PIA Press Release2006/10/30

Constituent assembly pushed in House

Quezon City (30 October) -- TIME MAY be slipping away but there is no turning back from Charter change for the House majority bloc.

Administration lawmakers made that clear Sunday as they dismissed calls for the House of Representatives to abandon its plan to push through with a constituent assembly and amend the Constitution.

Deputy Speaker Gerry Salapuddin and Representative Mauricio Domogan (Lakas, Baguio City), vice chair of the House committee on constitutional amendments, said the House would not be swayed by critics’ claims that Charter change was dead.

Salapuddin said a caucus called by Speaker Jose de Venecia for next week would be crucial for House members in planning their strategy on convening a constituent assembly and proposing Charter amendments even without the Senate's participation.

“We may call the double loss in the (Commission on Elections) and (Supreme Court) a temporary setback, but certainly nobody loves a loser,” he said.

Salapuddin said the Charter change proponents wanted to “fast-track the process because we believe that time is not on our side.”

He added: “To say that we should scrap con-ass (constituent assembly) now is to turn our backs on our constituents who want Cha-cha (Charter change) for the betterment of our country.”

Domogan said opposition calls for the House to give up the idea of a constituent assembly “is always their song.”

“This is a crucial moment for Cha-cha and we, in the House, will show solidarity in pushing con-ass to dispel the negativism of anti-Cha-cha groups,” Domogan said. (PIA) [top]